Nepal

Nepal = Mind Blown

In 2001 I was fortunate enough to go on an adventure to Nepal. The trip was organized by Kris King of the Wings program who had taken a group of 15 to Nepal every other year for more than a decade.

We spent several days acclimating in Kathmandu, followed by five weeks on trek and then one final week on an island called Ko Samui, off the coast of Thailand.

It was no ordinary trek but rather a cultural immersion. The part of Nepal we visited was a quiet, rarely-trekked region of the Himalayas marked by Buddhist monasteries nestled high up on the mountainsides. Part of what made the trip so special was Kris's relationship with this particular group of sherpas, who were kind enough to welcome us into their villages and homes. Their proceeds from her treks built and furnished a school in one of the villages, called Lura.

The experience was life changing.

Upon my return home, I began the task of condensing more than 20 hours of raw amateurish footage into a reasonable length movie. I'd never operated a video camera before - much less made a movie! And I had numerous project interruptions and technological as well as personal challenges that delayed completing my project. I wondered many times if I would ever actually get it done.

I finally finished the DVD in 2011 - a full ten years later. In spite of the cheesy captions from early on that could not be removed, and the fuzziness and shakiness of the footage, I think I managed to capture some of the magic of the Nepali people and the splendor of their land.

Even if you don't watch the movie, the pictures below will give you a glimpse into what it was like to be in such a magical place with such magical people.